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George W. Bush Re-Enters Policy Arena

By Peter Baker March 10, 2010 5:46 pmMarch 10, 2010 5:46 pm

Former President George W. Bush personally intervened last week in a dispute over the peace process in Northern Ireland in his first known direct involvement in a public policy debate since leaving the White House nearly 14 months ago.

Mr. Bush, who has mostly stayed out of the limelight in Dallas, called David Cameron, the leader of the Conservatives in Britain, to urge him to pressure allies in Northern Ireland to support the latest step in the peace process. But the effort proved unsuccessful, as Mr. Cameron’s allies in Belfast refused to go along in a vote on Tuesday.

The call represented a break from Mr. Bush’s self-imposed, postpresidential retreat. Although he has given speeches and joined former President Bill Clinton in leading earthquake relief efforts in Haiti, Mr. Bush has largely stayed out of policy and political matters since President Obama took office. He made an exception in this case reportedly after a request from the Obama administration, reflecting his own longstanding interest in furthering reconciliation in Northern Ireland.

“President Bush and his administration played an active diplomatic role in promoting lasting peace and prosperity in Northern Ireland,” said David Sherzer, Mr. Bush’s spokesman. “He views the reconciliation in Northern Ireland as an example for other societies around the world.”

The issue at hand was the latest move in the 12-year-old peace process stemming from the Good Friday accords negotiated by Mr. Clinton and supported by Mr. Bush during his administration. The Northern Ireland assembly was voting on a measure to transfer authority over the police, courts and prisons from London to Belfast starting April 12.

The Ulster Unionists, which are allied with Mr. Cameron’s Conservatives, opposed the move, arguing that the coalition government in Belfast was still struggling to govern. Their opposition was not enough to stop the plan from going forward, but American officials worried that lack of unity behind the move would undercut it.

The Guardian newspaper reported that the Obama administration was so concerned that Declan Kelly, its economic envoy to Northern Ireland, asked Mr. Bush to intervene with Mr. Cameron. Mr. Sherzer would not comment on whether such a request was made, and spokesmen for the White House and the State Department did not immediately respond to e-mail requests for confirmation.

But even though Mr. Cameron supported the transfer of power, he indicated he had little sway with the Ulster Unionists. “The one thing we cannot do is force people to vote a particular way,” he told reporters. In the end, the assembly approved the transfer of policing powers on Tuesday with the support of 88 of 105 members over the opposition of the Ulster Unionists.

It was not clear whether the involvement in Northern Ireland, along with the Haiti relief efforts, might signal the start of a gradual coming-out for Mr. Bush, who has a book to be released in November.

Karl Rove, his former senior adviser, said in an interview this week that Mr. Bush believed Mr. Obama ought to have “an interval” of silence from his predecessor. Asked if that meant the former president would eventually become more vocal, Mr. Rove said: “I don’t know. That’s his decision to make at some point, but he believes that his successor deserves a period of time in which he is quiet.”

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